What year are my 317 heads?
Thread Starter
Joined: Nov 2004
Posts: 998
Likes: 19
From: Rotterdam, New York
What year are my 317 heads? I have a set of 317 heads I bought used. How can I tell what year they were made so I can buy head studs? I see a code in the rocker area that looks like an old GM date code. E233. Would this be like the old way to read the production date? E=5 for the 5th month, 23 is the day and 3 is the year like 2003? So May 23 2003?
Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 24,241
Likes: 89
From: Turnin' Wrenches Infractions: 005
317s ran for a span of years, finding out exactly what year they were made may be close to impossible with no background information on the head. However, picking head studs has nothing to do with the head and everything to do with the block itself. The block is what has different length holes drilled and that's what determines whether you use the old or new style bolts/studs.
Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 24,241
Likes: 89
From: Turnin' Wrenches Infractions: 005
One piece of advice, double check the holes before ordering. They put the transition year as 03 and before as the old and 04 and up as the new. This is absolutely incorrect as I own an 04 LS6 with the old style setup.
